Justice, Rule of Law and Security Sector Reform

Those efforts led to the Security Council's establishment of a Working Group tasked with the protection of civilians and to draw up plans to put an end to all murder and other forms of violence, including sexual violence, affecting civilians. However, the thrust of the recommendations and presidential statements by the Council have unfortunately not yielded the desired results.

With respect to the systematic violence carried out against women and girls, we welcome the investigations that are under way in the country, which reflect the determination of MONUSCO and of the Congolese Government to combat impunity.

With regard to the situation in the Ivory Coast, we also reiterate our deep concern over the reported serious violations of human rights and the use of disproportionate force. We are alarmed by the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country, where more than a million people have reportedly been internally displaced and more than 100,000 had to flee the country and find shelter in Liberia.

It is unfortunate that, despite the existence of international legal instruments and normative mechanisms, innocent civilians, including women and children, as well as international humanitarian personnel, continue to suffer in conflict situations. Undoubtedly, the prosecution of those responsible for crimes committed against peaceful populations continues to be an urgent matter.

At the national level, the Report also looks at a number of practical programme tools that have been used to restore confidence and transform institutions.

National ownership must also be a core element in all peacekeeping and peacebuilding mandates and missions. Peacekeepers come and go, but only national participation, involvement and ownership from all segments of society, particularly disadvantaged groups such as women and children, can create the sort of organic development that will sustain long-term peace.

In turn, the need for security as a prerequisite for development is well established. In post-conflict situations, national capacity-building in the area of security in keeping with norms for the rule of law is essential in order to establish favourable conditions for development. For example, in a number of countries where the economy relies almost entirely on the work of women, there is a direct link between security and development.

For all of those reasons, it is the responsibility of the international community to establish conditions for shared and sustainable development that limit the risk of conflicts breaking out, or continuing. Thus the Peacebuilding Commission, in the countries on its agenda, has made the emancipation of young people and women one of its priorities, alongside security sector reform, as both factors contribute to stability.

There is no doubt that particular attention should be given to activities and programmes dealing with the reintegration of refugees and internally displaced persons, the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration of former combatants, and security sector reform in order to create the conditions conducive to relaunching economic activity.

We have learned important lessons over the past two decades in this field, but we also have work to do in putting them into practice. We all agree that national ownership of the processes of rebuilding and renewal is indispensable, but we still struggle to assist fragile post-conflict Governments so they can set and implement their own priorities.